Apparatus and method for handling yarn bundles



3,281,913 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR HANDLING YARN BUNDLES Filed Aug. 10, 1964 N V- 1, 1956 E. A. MOREHEAD ETAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 EDWARD A. MOREHEAD MERWY/V L. CHASE FIG. 2.

INVENTORS BY 74% [Ya MM fl/fiwdi ATTORNEYS 1966 E. A. MOREHEAD ETAL 3,231,913

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR HANDLING YARN BUNDLES Filed Aug. 10, 1964 Z'Sheets-Sheet 2 L J EDWARD A. MORE-HEAD F/ G 5 INVENTORS BY Q MM United States Patent 3,281,913 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR HANDLING YARN BUNDLES Edward A. Morehead and Merwyn L. Chase, Kingsport,

Tenn, assignors to Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N .Y., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Aug. 10, 1964, Ser. No. 388,610 6 Claims. (Cl. 2821) This invention relates to the handling of yarns, tows, rovings or the like yarn bundles. In particular it relates to the dependable depositing at a high speed of a yarn bundle into a box or baler in a manner which offers minimum disturbance to yarn bundle being deposited onto the previously laid yarn strands in order that the yarn may later be withdrawn and processed without diificulty.

As known in the industry the manufacture of various yarn bundles and the like form of yarn in a continuous strand and the packaging thereof in various ways has been of interest for a number of years. A considerable amount of work has been done in this field and is still being done. This is evidenced by published patents ranging from some of the older patents to recent ones exemplified by some of the following: 2,447,982, 2,721,371, 2,773,282, 2,798,348, 2,863,208, 2,971,243, 2,971,683, British 729,920 and British 730,795.

While it is not possible or necessary in the limited space herein available to discuss the advantages or disadvantages of prior art constructions, a few items are touched upon. Many of the prior art devices tend to undesirably introduce false twist into the yarn bundle being handled. Some only function with a round container thereby reducing the amount of floor space eifectively utilized compared to the use of square or rectangular containers.

In further detail, in the prior art there seems to be two main methods of packaging heavy denier tow bundles, yarn bundles, and the like strands for subsequent processing, have been used. The older procedure consists of winding the yarn on a bobbin or headless high cross wind package. This system is limited in the size package that can be produced and the increased cost and complexity of the winder system as yarn speeds are increased. Moreover, undrawn freshly spun filaments may be damaged by the passage over the various yarn guides of the winder system or by the stresses imposed on the yarn by strand traversing mechanism.

The second method generally consists of puddling or depositing the strand or like yarn bundle in a large cylindrical can 'by means of a centrifugal slinger, sometimes aided by an air jet much as in the known pot spinner or coilerhead-sliver can takeup systems. However, the depositing or feeding of continuous filamentary material, as yarn, from a feed roll or pin roll with the yarn dropping from the rolls of its own weight and inertia onto a conveyor belt or into a container becomes increasingly difficult as the linear speeds of the yarn bundles are increased. As bundle speeds are increased, the occasional wrapping or picking of filaments on the feeding rolls becomes more and more of a problem until the operation becomes quite diflicult at speeds in excess of 400-700 m./m.

In the textile industry, work with various roll peripheral configurations, surface finishes, surface materials, yarn lubricants or finishes, etc. have been tried without much success in overcoming this roll wrapping problem. Hence, the industry has found it beneficial that more dependable means be used for freeing the yarn from the forwarding rolls. One method uses a slinger arm with or without a fluid jet to pull the yarn bundle free of the feed rolls and to loosely deposit the bundle into a container as shown in some of the published patents. The slinger arm and/or jet move with a circular motion to aid in forming the yarn bed in the container which is also rotated in some cases in a manner similar to that used by the coiler head on a staple fiber card or gill box, and the yarn bundle is deposited in the form of overlapping loops or coils.

The system just referred to requires that the jet be moved at the rate of yarn speed, i.e., 1000 y.p.m. or more which imposes mechanical strains on the mechanism. Moreover, when attempts were made to use these previously known procedures for handling such bundles, difficulty was encountered with entanglement of both tow filaments and strands due to disturbance of the yarn bed by the high velocity fluid issuing from the depositing fluid jet. Furthermore, when the procedure wa used as a method of collecting undrawn synthetic fibers, it was discovered that the fibers were often cold drawn to a degree by the snubbing path of the mechanism. During the subsequent drawing operation, this caused non-uniformly drawn fibers which affected the quality of the resultant yarns and fabrics.

One object of the present invention is to provide a method for packaging a rapidly moving yarn bundle in a cross laid or crisscross manner in a container by means of a fluid jet which offers minimum disturbance to the strand being deposited and to the previously laid yarn bundle. Another object is to provide a controlled method of depositing such yarn bundles whereby the freshly laid bundle is in a relaxed state. Another object is to provide a yarn deposition method whereby the point of application of the yarn to the previously laid yarn bed is under improved control to the extent that space saving rectangular containers may be utilized. Another object is to provide a device for packaging any type bundle, such as yarns, rovings, tows and the like into containers which is easily adjustable so as to be suitable for filling containers of a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Another object is to provide a yarn bundle handling method utilizing a fiuid jet whereby the bundle is momentarily stored while the fluid from the jet is dissipated at an angle to the yarn strand flow. Another object is to provide a yarn depositing method utilizing a fluid jet whereby the kinetic energy of the yarn issuing from the jet is dissipated through momentary storage of the yarn before the yarn drops substantially under its own weight onto the previously laid yarn. Still another object is to provide a deposition method of the class indicated whereby a vertical fluid jet can be used and where the jet is traversed at a high and constant speed across the width of the container but the jet is traversed at a slow and intermittently variable speed across the length of the container so as to improve the ease of withdrawal of the yarn bundle from the container. Other objects will appear hereinafter.

For a more complete understanding of the invention reference will be made to the attached drawings forming a part of the present application. In such drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevation view of a yarn bundle collecting apparatus of this invention as adapted to collect the output from several cabinets.

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation of the improved depositing jet used in this invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-section view taken on the line AA through the depositing device shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of one form of mechanism used to provide control of the yarn strand depositing jet for regulating the lay of the strand in a rectangular or square container.

FIG. 5 is a diagramatic plan view depicting a typical strand lay pattern provided by the device shown in FIG. 4.

Referring to FIG. 1, continuous filament yarn 2 emerges from one or more spinning cabinets 1 and are carried forward at a uniform rate by one or.more Godet rolls 3 to form yarn bundle 9 which in this particular situation was a conventional tow. Feed roll 4 feeds tow 9 to the depositing jet 5 at a high linear speed. In jet 5 the tow 9 is drawn under tension into the jet due to action of a compressible fluid introduced at inlet 10. From jet 5, the tow is forced under light pressure into a temporary storage chamber 22 (to be described in detail under FIG. 2) formed by storage fingers 6. Here the fluid is separated from the momentarily stored tow and the tow falls substantially under its own weight to tow bed 7 which is undisturbed by the spent fluid from jet 5. Fluid jet 5 is moved by means not shown in this figure, but described under FIG. 4, to give the desired tow bed shape 7 in container 8.

FIGURE 2 provides a more detailed cross-sectional view along the jet axis of the depositing jet and storage fingers. A compressible fluid such as air enters jet 5 by means of inlet 10, passes through plenum chamber 12, through the concentric orifice formed by surfaces 14 and 15, through venturi tube throat 16 and expands through venturi tube divergent section 18. When tow 9 is introduced into the jet and entrained in this high velocity fluid stream the tow receives a forward impluse from the fluid which develops tension in the tow strand between the delivery roll 4 and the jet 5. The rapidly moving tow 9 is carried by the high velocity fluid through the venturi tube 17 into chamber 22 formed by spring fingers 6. The spring fingers 6 are attached to venturi tube 17 by means of collar 19 and set screws 20. As the tow 9 and fluid enter chamber 22, the speed and kinetic energy of the tow 9 is greatly diminished as the tow folds upon itself and the major part of the motivating fluid is dissipated at right angles to the axis of the jet. Thus with the construction of the present invention the fluid blast from the jet does not disturb the tow being forced from the exit end of the storage chamber 22 nor can the fluid blast disturb the tow previously deposited in the tow transport container 8 of FIG. 1. Expressed in another way, the present invention wherein the high energy fluid is exhausted away from the container has the following advantage. The strand bed to deposition distance is not sensitive. Hence, mounds or voids are not created as the yarn strand is layered into the container.

Extending from collar 19 is blow out shield 1 containing perforations 23. Blow out shield 11 is provided as a means of preventing large loops of tow from being carried out of chamber 22 by escaping fluid. Perforations 23 enable the fluid to escape but offer resistance to the passage of tow strands or other types of yarn bundles being processed.

FIGURE 3 which shows a transverse partial crosssectional view of the tow depositor jet of FIGURE 2, reveals the spaced relationship of spring fingers 6. These fingers 6 are attached to venturi tube 17 by means of collar 19 and set screws 20. The spacing of perforations 23 in collar extension 11 are also shown.

FIGURE 4 shows the details of one form of a yarn strand or tow depositor jet traverse mechanism used to provide control of the yarn bed formation in a transport or the like square or rectangular container. This is shown in plan view. The depositor jet 5, which obtains fluid under pressure through flexible line 10, is provided with support lugs 41 which are attached to traverse chain 39. The transverse fast speed reciprocation of the depositor jet 5 is accomplished by means of reversible electric gear motor 35 which drives roller chain 39 through sprocket 36. The chain is further supported and tightened by idler sprocket 37 which is supported by bearing block 38. The limits of depositor 5 travel are determined by adjustable limit switches 43 which are triggered by chain block 42. The limit switches 43 control the gear motor 35 by means of motor reversing relay 44. The low speed longitudinal or lengthwise movement of the jet 5 is obtained by reciprocation of carriage 32 by means of reversing gear motor 48. Carriage 32 moves on suitable bearings 34 on guide shafts 31. Frame 30 supports the stationary guide shafts 31. Power from reversing gear motor 48 is transmitted through sprocket 49 to a roller chain 52 which is attached by anchor lugs 53 to carriage 32. Roller chain 52 is tightened by means of idler sprocket 50 supported by bearing bracket 51. The limits of the longitudinal jet movement are determined by adjustable limit switches 46. These switches are tripped by trigger link 45 on roller chain 52. The limit switches 46 control gear motor 48 by means of control relay 47.

FIGURE 5 shows a typical lay pattern provided by the mechanism diagrammed in FIGURE 4 for shaping the yarn bed in bale or box.

The following examples illustrate certain preferred embodiments of our invention:

Example I Apparatus for the delivery of yarn from several cabinets to form a tow was set up as shown in FIGURE 1 with the jet depositor shown in FIGURE 2 and depositor traverse mechanism shown in FIGURE 4 being used. Undrawn polyethylene terephthalate continuous filament tow of approximately 45,000 denier, 11 denier per filament was fed to depositor 5 at a 860 m./m. Depositor 5 had a A inside diameter inlet tube 13 and a diameter venturi throat 16. Compressed air at room temperature was fed to jet 5 at 15 p.s.i.g. at a rate of 21 s.c.f.m. Spring steel stock .030 x .250" wide x 5" long was used for the eight spring fingers 6. Approximately seven meters of yarn were continually stored in chamber 22. The depositor 5 was positioned vertically as shown in FIGURE 4 and was traversed at a uniform rate of 6 f.p.m. longitudinally and 40 f.p.m. transversely into a stationary rectangular box 4 feet x 4 feet x 3 feet high. A flat yarn bed was maintained through the filling of the container with no traverse length adjustment required. No disturbance of yarn bed was noted during the run. When the tow was subsequently withdrawn in the drawing operation, no snarling of filaments or strands was noted and the yarn withdrew from the container smoothly and drew with good uniformity from filament to filament and along the strand to produce a good quality polyester stapel fiber free of undrawn or partially drawn fibers.

In the prior art of making staple yarns from continuous filament yarns packaged on tubes in spinning before drawing, the average harsh or defect count due to partially drawn or undrawn filaments found in 128 card checks was 6.4 per card test. By depositing the continuous filament tow using the storage jet into square containers before drawing, the average harsh or defect count found in 21 card tests was 0.28 per card test.

Example 11 Apparatus for the delivery of the tow was as shown in FIGURE 1, FIGURE 2 and FIGURE 4. Undrawn poly 1,4 cyclohexylene dimethylene terephthalate continuous filament tow of approximately 46,500 4.8 d./f. was fed to depositor jet 5 at 1,100 m./m. Depositor jet 5 had a 71 inside diameter inlet tube 13 and a diameter venturi'tube throat 16. Compressed air at 17 p.s.i.g. and at a rate of 21 s.c.f.m. was fed to jet 5. This produced a tow tension of .01 gram/denier in the tow being pulled from forwarding roll 4. The eight spring storage fingers 6 were made of .030" x .250" wide x 5" long spring steel. Approximately 6 /2 meters of yarn were continuously stored in chamber 22. The depositor jet 5 was positioned vertically as shown in FIGURE 4 and was traversed at the uniform rate of 7.75 f.p.m. longitudinally and 48 /2 f.p.m. transversely into a 4 x 4 x 3' high box. The bottom of the storage fingers 6 was positioned approximately 3" above the top of the box. Substantially all of the air from the jet was dissipated at right angles to the axis of the depositor jet; hence, no disturbance of the previously laid tow was noted. The kinetic energy in the fast moving yarn strand was dissipated in the temporary storage chamber 22 and upon expulsion from the chamber, the tow fell gently to the tow bed in the box.

Due to the efiicient action of the depositor jet traversing mechanism the tow was accumulated in a uniform manner with a relatively flat tow bed being maintained at all times with no pockets at the corners of the container. No adjustments in traverse length were required during the filling of the box. When the tow was subsequently withdrawn in the drawing operation, no snarling of filaments or strands were perceived and the yarn drew with good uniformity along the strand and from filament to filament to produce a good quality staple fiber.

In the prior art of making comparable staple yarns from continuous filament yarns but packaged on tubes in spinning before drawing, the average harsh or defect count due to partially drawn or undrawn filaments found in 250 card tests was 7.3. By depositing the continuous filament tow using the storage jet into square containers before drawing, the average harsh or defect count due to undrawn or partially drawn filaments found in 63 card checks was 0.27.

It is thought it may be seen from the foregoing examples and other description that we have provided an improved apparatus and process. for handling various yarn bundles, both large and small bundles.

Considering certain of the details of construction of this invention certain of the elements may he varied. The jet design is critical to the extent that it should provide adequate pulling power to pull the bundle free of the forwarding rolls and adequate power to push the yarn bundle through the depositor storage fingers. Several jet designs were tried and found statisfactory for this purpose but with the above described structure preferred. The capacity of the tow storage fingers was not found to be unduly limiting. Several shapes and sizes of the storage chambers and storage fingers were evaluated and were found to operate satisfactorily. The particular requirement is that sufficient yarn be stored to restrict the axial fluid flow from the jet to the ext-ent that substantially all the jet exhaust fluid is dissipated at about a right angle to the axis of the jet.

The size of the perforations 23 in blow out shield 11 should be sized so as to allow fluid to escape from storage chamber 22 yet offer resistance to passage of fibers of the tow strands. It has been found beneficial to locate the perforations 23 in the same plane as spring fingers 6 so as to further discourage the passage of any filaments in this direction.

The mechanism for traversing the depositor is also somewhat flexible of operation with the possible exception of control of the relative speeds of the longitudinal and transverse motions. Here care should be taken to prevent a repeating pattern in strand laying. That is, the slow traverse time in seconds preferably should not be an even multiple or half multiple of the fast traverse time. The occurrence of patterning due to an even multiple time ratio would result in the creation of pockets in the deposited yarn bed.

It will be observed from the foregoing the present invention is entitled to some scope of interpretation. Its usefulness is not limited to the handling of only continous filament tows and yarns. It may be applied to various stranded materials that are pliable; staple fiber yarns, narrow films, shattered films, etc. Likewise, yarns other than polyester yarns may be handled such as polyolefins, acrylics, modacrylics, cellulose acetates, viscose yarns, polyamides and polyurethane yarns.

The usually used and preferred fluid for the operation of the jet forwarding means 5 is untreated air. However, other gases may be used if desired. In some instances heated air, reactive vapors or steam may be used as the gas stream if treatment of the filament surfaces is desired. The temporary storage of the tow'in the storage chamber 22 in intimate contact with a particular fluid is conductive to yarn treatment.

The fiber contacting surfaces in jet 5 are preferably composed of a wear resistant ceramic material; however,

hardened metal or other wear resistant materials would be usable. Obviously, resilient materials other than spring steel may be used for spring storage fingers 6. Beryllium copper would be one such useful spring material. In some cases, a loosely woven fabric tube may be substituted successfully for the spring storage fingers. The blow out shield 11 may be formed of any stable metal or plastic since no wear problem is present.

Although the specific embodiments described in the examples have referred to the deposition of the tow into a rectangular box by means of simultaneous movement of the deposition both longitudinally and laterally, deposition into frequently used round drums is not excluded. For this, relative eccentric movements of depositor and drum such as that found on the coiler mechanism on a gill box could be used. The invention may also be used for deposition of yarn strands onto a fiat surface or upon a moving conveyor belt.

Power for movement of the depositor traverse mechanism of FIG. 4 is not necessarily limited to reversible electric motors. Reversible .air motors, hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders, reversible screws, etc. are some of the power supply means which would suffice. With any power source, however, care should be taken as explained above by predetrmining the cycles to prevent patterning in formation of the yarn strand bed.

As may be noted from the above description, the present invention provides an improved method for depositing a synthetic filamentary strand onto a conveyor or into a container in a relaxed state and with a minimum of snarled filaments or strands in such a manner that the yarn can be withdrawn from the bed smoothly and easily. The present invention deposits the yarn by means of an improved fluid jet which overcomes the problems with disturbance of the previously laid tow bed found in the prior art of jets. This is accomplished in the depositor by bringing the rapidly moving yarn entrained in the propelling fluid substantially to a halt in a temporary storage chamber attached to a fluid jet wherein the kinetic energy of the yarn is dissipated and the propelling fluid is dispersed at substantially right angles to the axis of yarn movement. Thus as the momentarily stored yarns fall gently to the storage bed substantially under its own weight, neither the kinetic energy of the yarn which was traveling at a high rate of speed prior to the jet nor the fluid blast from the jet is present to disturb and snarl the yarn being deposited or yarn previously laid. This gentle, vertical deposition of the yarn lends itself to the filling of containers of diverse shapes and sizes. Particularly space saving rectangular containers whereby a simple traverse motion utilizing a reciprocating combined longitudinal and lateral motion such as shown in FIGURE 4. The vertical deposition of the yarn also enables a container of any practical depth to be filled with a continually level yarn bed without requiring traverse adjustments during the filling.

It was disclosed above that reactive vapors or steam could be added to the jet fluid for treatment of the yarn. Another use of the present invention would be for temporary storage of yarn to give an operator time to tie the yarn onto a winder or some such device in a process where the yarn strand was being forwarded at a constant rate.

Although the invention has been described in detail with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention as described hereinabove and as defined by the appended claims.

We claim:

1. An apparatus combination useful for forming and packaging a plurality of filaments into a container, said combination comprises a source of a plurality of filaments making up a strand, means for conducting said strand to and through a depositor device having high energy fluid supplied thereto, said device being in combination with a depositor traverse which incorporates means for intermittently varying the crosswise and lengthwise traverse velocities to prevent the occurrence of multiple or half multiple time ratios between the slow and fast traverse motions, the depositor device being characterized in that it comprises an entrance section adapted to impinge the high energy fluid onto the strand to be packaged in the container to generate a forwarding momentum therein and an exit section adapted to dissipate the forward momentum of the strand in a resilient storage chamber, the chamber being partially enclosed whereby the strand may exit in an axial direction and the high energy fluid as an exhaust may be exhausted in a radial direction and whereby the strand discharged into the container is not sensitive to the strand bed to depositor distance and the formation of mounds and voids in the strand bed as the strand is fed into the container is minimized.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the strand depositor is positioned vertically as respects the package being filled with the strand.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 comprising the sub-combination of the strand depositor and a storage chamber in association therewith which chamber has means for radial exhaustfrom the chamber, said chamber being of sufiicient capacity to permit temporary strand holdup whereby an operator may tie the strand to a package device.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the traverse mechanism comprises an assembly of a movable chain means carrying said depositor, said chain means having in association therewith adjustable limit switches adapted to be triggered by said chain, said assembly being carried by a reciprocating carriage also motivated by chain means equipped with triggered means.

5. The process of handling a continuous multifilamentary yarn strand which comprises delivering said strand to a high energy fluid motivating operation, holding the fluid motivated strand in temporary storage while dissipating the high energy fluid in a radial direction based on the direction of advance of the strand and depositing the strand from said temporary storage into a container so that said positioning of the strand in the container does not materially disturb the strand already previously deposited therein, said depositing comprising procedure which includes the intermittently varying of the crosswise and lengthwise traverse velocities of the strand into the container whereby even layering of the strand into the container is obtained.

6. A strand packaging process for filling large containers free of uneven mounds and voids in the strand layers, comprising the steps of:

(a) delivering a strand in a downward direction to a strand container (b) traversing said strand across and lengthwise of said container to deposit the strand in the container in a sawtooth pattern v (c) varying the speed of traverse of the strand in at least one direction whereby the slow traverse time in seconds is not an even multiple of the fast traverse time in seconds and,

(d) layering said strand into said container to form a full container free of mounds and voids in the layered strands.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1963 Davis 2821 7/1963 Caines et a1 28-1 

1. AN APPARATUS COMBINATION USEFUL FOR FOMRING AND PACKAGING A PLURALITY OF FILAMENTS INTO A CONTAINER, SAID COMBINATION COMPRISES A SOURCE OF A PLURALITY OF FILAMENTS MAKING UP A STRAND, MEANS FOR CONDUCTING SAID STRAND TO AND THROUGH A DEPOSITOR DEVICE HAVING HIGH ENERGY FLUID SUPPLIED THERETO, SAID DEVICE BEING IN COMBINATION WITH A DEPOSITOR TRAVERSE WHICH INCORPORATES MEANS FOR INTERMITTENTLY VARYING THE CROSSWISE AND LENGTHWISE TRAVERSE VELOCITIES TO PREVENT THE OCCURRENCE OF MULTIPLE OR HALF MULTIPLE TIME RATIOS BETWEEN THE SLOW AND FAST TRAVERSE MOTIONS, THE DEPOSITOR DEVICE BEING CHARACTERIZED IN THAT IT COMPRISES AN ENTRANCE SECTION ADAPTED TO IMPINGE THE HIGH ENERGY FLUID ONTO THE STRAND TO BE PACKAGED IN THE CONTAINER TO GENERATE A FORWARDING MOMENTUM THEREIN AND AN EXIT SECTION ADAPTED TO DISSIPATE THE FORWARD MOMENTUM OF THE STRAND IN A RESILIENT STORAGE CHAMBER, THE CHAMBER BEING PARTIALLY ENCLOSED WHEREBY THE STRAND MAY EXIT IN AN AXIAL DIRECTION AND THE HIGH ENERGY FLUID AS AN EXHAUST MAY BE EXHAUSTED IN A RADIAL DIRECTION AND WHEREBY THE STRAND DISCHARGED INTO THE CONTAINER IS NOT SENSITIVE TO THE STRAND BED TO DEPOSITOR DISTANCE AND THE FORMATION OF MOUNDS AND VOIDS IN THE STRAND BED AS THE STRAND IS FED INTO THE CONTAINER IS MINIMIZED. 